QUICK NEWS, February 6: Yet Another Try At Denial; The Rich Winds In Kansas; Solar’s Importance Growing

Yet Another Try At Denial Republicans Try a New Tack on Climate Change

Justin Gillis, February 2, 2017 (NY Times)

“…[After] the public began to notice the heat waves and the torrential rains and the tidal flooding…[climate deniers shifted from denying to] fending off climate questions…[That formula.met with ridicule and now the strategy is to question climate scientists’] ability to measure with precision the extent of that impact…Anybody who did not know better might come away thinking there is room to doubt whether humans are the main cause of global warming…[Experts insist] the public should not be fooled. The deep consensus among climate scientists, arrived at through decades of research, is that human activity is the cause of most of the planetary warming of recent decades, and probably all of it…For starters, an unassailable body of physics tells us that if you add carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases to the atmosphere, they will trap extra heat near the surface of the planet, a prediction so basic it was first made in the 19th century…

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Emissions have soared in the modern era, and as predicted, the Earth is heating up…[Natural factors could in principle be causing the climate to change but we have satellites keeping a close eye on them and researchers have ruled out] everything we know that works on long time scales that has ever affected climate in the past…The most important uncertainties are not really about the cause of global warming — we are the cause — but in trying to forecast how big the coming changes will be...If emissions continue at a high level but the Earth turns out to be less sensitive to greenhouse gases than currently believed, that would give humanity a few extra decades…But it is not a get-out-of-jail-free card: If we keep burning fossil fuels in that time, scientists say the planet will still undergo profound, threatening changes…” click here for more

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The Rich Winds In Kansas Kansas should invest more in wind energy

Caleb Snider, February 6, 2017 (The Collegian)

“…Kansas is in a perfect position to capitalize on the green revolution by investing heavily in wind energy…[T]he second windiest state in the country…[and wind produced one-fifth of its 2016 electricity but]…as wind energy becomes cheaper, Kansas should be more incentivized to make the transition away from [the fossil fuels that] pollute our water and air…[In 2016, 101,000] jobs were created in the wind energy sector and…[it] has the potential to support more than 600,000 jobs in manufacturing, installation, maintenance and supporting services by 2050…[It is also] one of the few manufacturing industries that can greatly benefit rural communities and counties…[Over the 20 year life of only 4 Kansas wind projects, landowners will reportedly see about $2  million a year in lease payments and] local governments will see a $1.2  million contribution every year…This kind of revenue can help rural communities thrive by giving well-paying jobs to local residents and providing local governments a reliable source of cash flow, which can be put toward rebuilding roads, replacing aged pipelines, [and] investing in educational resources for schools…” click here for more

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Solar’s Importance Growing The state of residential solar power; Choosing solar in a vacuum now makes sense—but location and bureaucracy still loom IRL.

Lee Phillips, February 5, 2017 (Ars Technica)

“…[W]e will need to generate approximately 15TW of usable energy from renewable (carbon-neutral) sources by 2050 in order to stabilize the atmospheric CO2 concentration…[S]olar power has the greatest potential for meeting this requirement…[W]ind, hydropower, and geothermal extraction may work well on a local or regional scale in certain areas…[but] the potential of solar exceeds any other renewable energy source by several orders of magnitude. It’s simply the only contender, besides nuclear power, for a global solution…Given the recent change of federal leadership, it's likely a time of great uncertainty for large US solar initiatives. But individual organizations, businesses, and even citizens can still make decisions for themselves about embracing solar…[Prospects look good for growth because energy from rooftop solar power is now cheaper than energy from the grid…And in fact, “solar farms” are growing in popularity as a way for communities to gain some of the benefits of solar power without requiring each individual to invest in a separate rooftop system…” click here for more

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